Wednesday newspaper round-up: Tesla, ITV, Sky, Provident Financial
Elon Musk has launched a campaign to take Tesla private on a day that included several provocative tweets, a suspension (and resumption) of trading in the company’s shares, reports of a significant Saudi investment, a surge in stock price, and an evocative, Musk-tinged appeal to the Tesla faithful: “The future is very bright and we’ll keep fighting to achieve our mission.” The ride started with Tesla’s stock rising more than 7% after Musk tweeted he was “considering taking Tesla private” and had funding in place to do so at a price of $420 (£325) per share. Shortly afterwards, Tesla published a blogpost written by Musk entitled ‘Taking Tesla private’ that had been sent to all employees. – Guardian
ITV has joined major Hollywood studios including Disney and Fox, two major Wall Street banks and the billionaire Walton family in a $1bn (£770m) investment to back an ambitious new video streaming service for mobile phones. NewTV, the temporary name for the new venture, aims to win over the smartphone generation in the same way that Netflix has transformed traditional TV viewing. – Guardian
Rail companies have hatched a plan to mitigate the fallout of a hard Brexit on vital freight deliveries by creating single border customs checkpoints up and down the country. The failure to agree a customs deal could see trains, 2,000 of which delivered 1.22 million tonnes of freight last year, stacked up either side of the Channel Tunnel. With parts held up at a border points businesses may then be left standing idle waiting for deliveries. – Telegraph
Disney and the Murdoch family could keep Comcast and the City guessing until autumn over the fate of Sky, after declining to raise their bid at a landmark moment in the takeover battle. Close to a regulatory deadline, Fox this evening published its offer documents but held its price at £14 per share, short of Comcast’s £14.75 per share offer. – Telegraph
Senior bosses at Provident Financial discussed obstructing a disabled regulator from entering the company’s office, according to allegations by a former executive in an employment tribunal that was defended by Provident in a six-day hearing last month. Andy Parkinson, 53, sacked as acting head of Provident’s consumer credit division after a botched restructuring last year, is claiming unfair dismissal against the Bradford-based company. – The Times
The auditing watchdog has come under increased pressure from Westminster to publish the details of its investigation into why PWC signed off BHS as a going concern only six days before the retailer was sold for just £1. Frank Field, the veteran MP who chairs the Commons’ work and pensions committee, has written to Stephen Haddrill, chief executive of the Financial Reporting Council, demanding to know why the regulator has not published its report. – The Times